THE MAJOR'S MASSIVE MEMORIES

A VAST COLLECTION OF CLASSIC HIT SONGS REPRESENTING 22 YEARS OF GREAT MEMORIES FOR MAJOR HITWAVES

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PK	WKS	PTS	YRS	SONG TITLE & COMMENTS	ARTIST / SITE
1	12	401	1987	A Little Boogie Woogie (In The Back Of My Mind) It spent 5 consecutive weeks at # 1 here on our chart - more than any other song in 1987. It's one of the great anthems of the Summer Of 1987 U.K. chart music scene - one of the greatest eras in pop music history as far as I'm concerned.	Shakin' Stevens
14	6	131	1987	April Skies The Jesus And Mary Chain released 22 singles from 1984 to 1998, and 20 of them hit the U.K. pop chart. In May 2002 the compilation CD "21 Singles" was released that included all but one of their singles in the exact same chronological order that they were released. This was their 6TH and biggest single during their 14 years together. It hit # 8 on the U.K. pop chart.	The Jesus And Mary Chain
1	10	373	1987	Call Me Literally this is an early Eurodance song for the simple fact that it was a European dance smash. Technically it's not since the concept of Eurodance (as we knew it to be in the 1990s) wasn't conceived yet. This not-quite-so HI-NRG dance tune was years ahead of its time. It was a new and different sounding alternative to the Stock, Aitken, & Waterman dance music factory that was pumpin' out the hits during the late-1980s. Eurodance surely had its origins from stand-out songs like this one.	Spagna
2	4	147	1987	Cars Back in September 1979 it spent a week atop the U.K. pop chart. In 1980 it spent 6 months on the U.S. pop chart reaching the TOP 10. Gary Numan charted with a string of hits in the U.K. throughout most of the 1980s. In September 1987 a remixed version of "Cars" backed with a remixed version of Gary's 1ST U.K. # 1 smash from 1979 - "Are 'Friends' Electric ?" - was released in the U.K. that reached # 2 on our chart for 2 weeks in October 1987.	Gary Numan
4	10	238	1987 & 1988	Catch Me (I'm Falling) Pretty Poison were from Philadelphia, and they were a two-hit-wonder during the latter part of 1987 and into 1988. This was their big hit that spent nearly half a year on the Billboard HOT 100.	Pretty Poison
24	3	53	1987	CCCan't You See It was originally released in the U.K. in July 1984 on 7" and 12" vinyl single formats, and it actually reached # 67 on the U.K. pop chart. It also spent 3 weeks right here on our TOP 50 pop chart during the Spring Of 1987. For more info on Vicious Pink check out this dedicated fan site.	Vicious Pink
--	--	--	1987	Fascinated It was the # 1 club dance smash in the entire nation during the entire month of March 1987, and it was homegrown from the clubs of Miami and Miami Beach. Lori L., Lezlee Livrano and Susan Johnson were the original Company B, and they were always seen singing and dancing on stage with their MASSIVE platinum blonde wigs on. They were a short-lived act, as shortly after the 'Fascination' had run its course they called it a night and split-up. Lori L. appeared in later incarnations of Company B through much of the 1990s with much less success.	Company B
1	19	717	1987 & 1988	Got My Mind Set On You On Tuesday November 17th 1987 I departed England and returned home to the States after the conclusion of my two-year duty assignment at RAF Fairford. This was the final # 1 smash on our chart during my final two weeks in England, and it remained there for my first two weeks back here in the States. It was peaking at # 2 on the U.K. pop chart when I left, and it hit # 1 on the U.S. pop chart two months later in January 1988.	George Harrison
6	8	315	1987	Hey Matthew Karel Fialka was born in Bengal India to a Scottish father and a Czechoslovakian mother. His 1987 album "Human Animal" contained this surprising hit which featured the spoken word of Karel's young stepson Matthew. Here's what Matthew sees when he's watching TV: Dallas, Dynasty, Silver Hawks, He-Man, Tom & Jerry, Dukes Of Hazzard, Airwolf, Blue Thunder, Rambo, Road Runner, Daffy Duck, The A-Team.	Karel Fialka
5	12	401	1987	If You Let Me Stay Before he hit big in his native U.S. with a trio of hits in 1988 - "Wishing Well", "Sign Your Name", and "Dance Little Sister" - he had a breakthrough smash in the U.K. nearly a year earlier. "If You Let Me Stay" presented a new sound to the U.K. pop landscape in 1987 - sort of a hybrid between house and funk. It reached # 5 here on our chart in May 1987.	Terence Trent D'Arby
1	16	498	1987	I Love My Radio This pop-disco delight from early-1987 spent an exceptionally long time on our chart (for that time period). The Major was an Airman back then, and he didn't listen much to the deejay after midnight, but his favourite deejay during the work day was Gary Davies and his "Bit In The Middle" on BBC Radio 1.	Taffy
8	6	162	1987	Incommunicado The U.K. rock band Marillion have been active on the U.K. pop charts since 1982. They released their "Clutching At Straws" album in July 1987 while I was living in the U.K., and this was the lead-off single from that # 2 album. It hit # 6 on the U.K. pop chart and # 8 here on our own chart. This is one of my favourite hard rock songs from that era.	Marillion
2	15	403	1987 & 1988	(I've Had) The Time Of My Life In January 2005 I visited Viva La$ Vega$ for the 3RD time in exactly 3 years, but it was my 1ST visit since May 2002. It was the 2ND Martin Luther King holiday weekend that I spent en Viva La$ Vega$. The 1ST time I stayed at the New York-New York, and the 2ND time I stayed at the Luxor. This time I stayed at the Mirage right in the heart of the Strip. Upon arriving at the airport this was the very first song I heard on the radio that was playing on the shuttle to the Mirage. At the end of the weekend I've had 4 days and 4 nights of food, fun, and games. I've had the time of my life, and I owe it all to Viva La$ Vega$ !	Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes
3	13	418	1987	I Wanna Dance With Somebody This was Whitney's 1ST single from her 2ND album, and it was a # 1 smash all around the world during the Summer Of 1987. It soared to # 3 on our chart !	Whitney Houston
37	6	56	1987	Jack The Groove This obscure house tune was actually one of the Major's favourite jams back in February 1987 despite its poor chart performance, and he still remembers the tune to this day. It only spent six weeks here on this chart, and it barely made it into the TOP 40. It got up to # 20 on the U.K. TOP 40 chart.	Raze
15	8	166	1987	Jack Your Body This house jam shocked the entire U.K. nation when it skyrocketed to # 1 in its 3RD week on the BBC-Gallup chart at the end of January 1987. It was clearly the most popular of all of the "Jack" songs during the early-1987 house craze. There was no music video for it, so BBC-1 created its own montage of old clips to accompany the song. They were used in lieu of an actual music video on two editions of "Top Of The Pops" while it was # 1 for two weeks. Just as fast as it climbed to the top it also fell just as fast - disappearing completely off the chart after just 9 weeks.	Steve "Silk" Hurley
10	10	311	1987	Jive Talkin' The Bee Gees scored a # 1 smash in the U.S. with "Jive Talkin'" during the Summer Of 1975. (It hit # 5 in the U.K.) A dozen summers later in 1987 the mysterious Boogie Box High soared to # 7 on the U.K. chart with their version of the funky track. George Michael provided the vocals for the remake, but most of us living in England didn't know that at the time.	Boogie Box High
2	10	334	1987	La Bamba During the late-Summer months of 1987 something interesting occurred. The top of the U.S. & U.K. pop charts aligned. Los Lobos' "La Bamba" - the title track of the movie of the same name - replaced Madonna's "Who's That Girl" - the title track of the movie of the same name. After a few weeks at # 1 (2 in the U.K. and 3 in the U.S.) "La Bamba" was replaced at the top of both charts by the first single from Michael Jackson's "Bad" album - "I Just Can't Stop Loving You".	Los Lobos
2	10	409	1987	Lean On Me This funky remake of Bill Withers' 1972 # 1 smash had the whole nation dancing 15 years later in 1987 as Club Nouveau took it back to the top of the U.S. pop chart. It reached # 3 in the U.K., and it spent 3 weeks in a row at # 2 here on our chart. A follow-up single - "Why You Treat Me So Bad" - barely cracked the U.S. TOP 40, and then they never charted again.	Club Nouveau
1	9	367	1987	Let It Be During the early evening hours of March 06th 1987 the Herald Of Free Enterprise ferry capsized about 90 seconds after leaving the Belgian port of Zeebrugge en route to Dover England. 193 passengers and crew members were killed in the disaster. 17 days later the (U.K.) Sun Newspaper released a 7" single for charity in which all of the proceeds went to support the families of the diseased. Stock, Aitken, & Waterman produced this Beatles' remake which featured Paul McCartney as part of a large ensemble of U.K. musicians known collectively as 'Ferry Aid'. It went on to debut and spend 3 weeks at # 1 in the U.K. (and on our own chart), and it sold an estimated half a million copies.	Ferry Aid
19	9	188	1987	Let My People Go-Go The Rainmakers hailed from Kansas City Missouri, and they formed their bar band over 20 years ago. They enjoyed their greatest commercial success overseas during the Spring Of 1987 when this one reached # 18 on the U.K. chart. They remained quite popular well into the 1990s touring and recording all across Europe.	The Rainmakers
2	11	437	1987	Let's Dance Many Americans may remember Chris Rea for his pop gem - "Fool (If You Think It's Over) - right in the middle of the disco era during the Summer Of 1978. It was his only U.S. TOP 40 hit. In his native U.K. he scored with a string of hits for nearly two decades, and "Let's Dance" was one of his biggest !	Chris Rea
49	1	2	1987	Lips Like Sugar A little more than a month after "The Game" flopped miserably on our chart the quick follow-up to it - "Lips Like Sugar" - did even worse. It spent a single week at # 49 on our TOP 50 chart during the 2ND week of August 1987. Nearly 3 months later The Major and a friend went to see Echo And The Bunnymen live in concert at London's Wembley Arena. It would be his 17TH and final concert attended in England over a 16-month period of time.	Echo And The Bunnymen
1	16	484	1987	Live It Up Mental As Anything are rock legends in their native Australia. They've been actively performing and recording since 1977, and they have no plans of slowing down. In March 1985 they released one of their biggest albums "Fundamental", and it included "Live It Up" which eventually became a monster smash not only down under but also all across Europe and the U.K. after its inclusion in the original "Crocodile Dundee" movie. This is one of my favourite songs of all-time !	Mental As Anything
1	13	487	1987	Love In The First Degree During their 11-year career Bananarama hit the TOP 3 thrice in their native U.K., and this was one of them. "Love In The First Degree" was produced and written by the British hitmaking trio of Stock, Aitken, & Waterman. They produced and released just over 200 pop-dance singles in the U.K. from 1984 to 1993, and they clearly reached their peak during the final four years of the 1980s when they released over half of their 200 singles.	Bananarama
34			1987	Love Removal Machine The Cult are a long-running British hard rock band that have been in existence off-and-on with many different musicians since 1981. Lead vocalist Ian Astbury has fronted the band for most (but not all) of the time, and Billy Duffy has been the lead guitarist since the start. They enjoyed their greatest success in their native U.K. during the mid-to-late-1980s when they scored 5 TOP 20 hits on the U.K. pop chart. This was their breakthrough smash on this side of the Atlantic, as it was the first of a string of hits to receive substantial airplay at U.S. Rock Radio.	The Cult
5	10	340	1987	Male Stripper Most of you remember "I'm Too Sexy" from Right Said Fred, but that was lame compared to this dancehall romp from 5 years earlier. Surely you remember Man 2 Man Meet Man Parrish perform "Male Stripper" live on the 1201st edition of "Top Of The Pops" on BBC-1 on Thursday February 12th 1987 ?	Man 2 Man Meet Man Parrish
5	6	197	1987	Me And The Farmer The Housemartins out of the north of England were a pure pop band with a string of hits in 1986 and 1987. They released 9 singles in the U.K. - 6 of which made the TOP 20. I saw them LIVE in concert on Saturday September 26th 1987 at London's Brixton Academy. If you didn't pay any attention to the lyrics of their songs you would've thought that they were just making music to have some fun. But if you listened carefully you would've picked-up on the seering social commentary that peppered each rant. I didn't listen to the words. I just enjoyed the music. I remember "Me And The Farmer" as the best of the bunch.	The Housemartins
6	11	314	1987 & 1988	Only In My Dreams When The Major returned stateside in November 1987 after two years of living in southern England 17-year-old Debbie Gibson had already debuted on the American pop scene with her 1ST of 5 singles from her debut album "Out Of The Blue". She would go on to score a string of 8 consecutive American TOP 25 hits through the end of 1989. She continues to record and perform to this day.	Debbie Gibson
8	12	272	1987 & 1988	Pump Up The Volume The BBC-Gallup (U.K.) TOP 40 for the final week of September 1987 contained a notable footnote / asterisk. Even though it clearly sold more singles than the # 1 song that week - "Never Gonna Give You Up" from Rick Astley - it was denied the # 1 spot due to a court injunction that was filed by Stock, Aitken, & Waterman. The hot producing and writing dance music trio at the time claimed that one of their other songs - "Roadblock" - was being unfairly sampled in "Pump Up The Volume". Only 2 (out of 7) days of sales data was used that week in its chart computation, and as a result it was stalled at # 2 on the U.K. chart for a 2ND week in a row. The following week the court injunction was lifted, and it soared to # 1 for 2 weeks in a row !	M/A/R/R/S
7	6	152	1987	Real Wild Child (Wild One) Punk Rocker / Actor Iggy Pop is 58 years old, and he's been making music for nearly 40 years now. He only had one chart hit here in the U.S. ("Candy" in 1991), and it was with Kate Pierson of The B-52s. Across the sea he was more successful. This was a track from his 1986 album "Blah Blah Blah". Iggy actually kicked-off the Thursday January 15th 1987 edition of "Top Of The Pops" on BBC-1 (hosted by Mike Smith) with a LIVE performance of it. All of Europe was dancing hard to it. The very next week it catapulted to # 10 on the U.K. pop chart.	Iggy Pop
2	12	482	1987	Respectable Mel & Kim had a very short pop music career in the U.K. that spanned exactly one album ("F.L.M."), four singles ("Showing Out", "Respectable", "F.L.M.", and "That's The Way It Is"), and about 19 months from September 1986 through April 1988. "Respectable" was the biggest of their four U.K. TOP 10 hits. It spent a week at # 1 on the U.K. chart, and a week at # 2 right here on this chart.	Mel & Kim
2	13	441	1987 & 1988	Say You Will Foreigner scored 16 U.S. TOP 40 hits from the late-1970s through the late-1980s. Fans of their late-1970s hits may cherish "Feels Like The First Time", "Cold As Ice", "Hot Blooded", and "Double Vision". This was their 2ND-to-last hit on the pop charts nearly a decade after all of those initial great hits. It came from their 6TH LP "Inside Information".	Foreigner
3	24	709	1987 & 1988	Shattered Dreams Johnny Hates Jazz was an English pop trio fronted by Clark Datchler. Their debut album "Turn Back The Clock" was MASSIVE, as it yielded 6 singles - 4 of which became U.K. TOP 20 pop hits. This 2ND single was the biggest of them all. During its 1987 U.K. release it hit our U.K.-based chart as a TOP 10 smash and spent 12 weeks with us. Nearly a year later for its 1988 U.S. release it hit our U.S.-based chart as a TOP 3 smash and spent another 12 weeks with us.	Johnny Hates Jazz
2	8	304	1987	Skin Trade Would someone please explain - The reason for this strange behaviour. In exploitations name - We must be working for the Skin Trade. I still remember those memorable lyrics today - 17 years later. I also remember Duran Duran perform this song LIVE before a nationwide (U.K.) television audience on the legendary "Top Of The Pops" at the end of a February 1987 telecast hosted by Mike Smith and Steve Wright. Three months later on Tuesday May 19th 1987 I saw Duran Duran LIVE in concert at London's Wembley Arena. This is my favourite Duran Duran song of all time !	Duran Duran
--	--	--	1987	Slice Me Nice It was either this one or "Chinese Eyes (Fire In Your Eyes)" - both of which are on one of my mix tapes - and I selected this one. Before I even slipped in the tape to listen to these two songs I already knew (from my great memory) how the melody went for "Chinese Eyes". Once I played the tape to hear both songs back-to-back it was clear which one had that something extra to propel it to MASSIVE Memory status. The title alone is worth at least a few extra points. 16 of Fancy's greatest hits from 1984 to 1994 are available on a CD aptly titled "The Hits 1984-1994". 20 Fancy tracks can also be found on the 1998 compilation CD "Hit Party".	Fancy
7	9	237	1987	Sonic Boom Boy Westworld were a U.K.-based pop-punk trio that consisted of founder Bob "Derwood" Andrews (guitarist from Generation X), Elizabeth Westwood (American lead singer), and Nick Burton (drummer). They released 4 singles in a row in 1987 from their album "Where The Action Is" (sold in the U.S. as "Rockulator"), and this was the lead-off single from it - a near TOP 10 hit in the U.K. The follow-up single was "Ba-Na-Na-Bam-Boo", and it was featured in the 1987 smash hit movie "Planes, Trains, & Automobiles". Nowadays Derwood and Westwood record as a duo - Moondogg. You can buy their 3RD album "All The Love In The World" directly on their web site.	Westworld
1	11	396	1987	Sweet Little Mystery Scottish pop band Wet Wet Wet were hot hot hot in the U.K. in 1987 with two back-to-back TOP 10 hits during a 6-month time-span from April through October. This was their follow-up to their debut smash "Wishing I Was Lucky" (which hit # 8 on our chart in June). "Sweet Little Mystery" entered our chart during the last week of July 1987, and the very next week it shot up a MASSIVE 38 notches to # 3. It made it to # 1 two weeks after that.	Wet Wet Wet
3	15	417	1987 & 1988	Tell It To My Heart Taylor Dayne debuted on our chart with this very first single just a week before Christmas 1987. It actually debuted the same exact week as "Catch Me (I'm Falling)" above. It spent 13 out of its 15 weeks within the TOP 20.	Taylor Dayne
28	3	39	1987	This Corrosion The Sisters Of Mercy were formed in Leeds U.K. in 1980. In November 1987 they released "Floodland" - an album that had real staying power. It was on the U.K. album chart for nearly 5 months, and it spawned 3 U.K. TOP 20 hit singles including this TOP 10 smash. It only spent 3 weeks on our chart, and that surprised me since I thought it was on for much longer. It certainly stands out as one of the most memorable songs from my final month of living in the U.K.	The Sisters Of Mercy
4	5	148	1987	Trampolene This was the 2ND single from the biggest-selling album of his career - "Saint Julian". It was the follow-up to his only TOP 20 single - "World Shut Your Mouth".	Julian Cope
1	20	782	1987 & 1988	True Faith This # 1 smash enjoyed MASSIVE success on both sides of the Atlantic. It hit the top of the chart for a single week in September 1987 while The Major was still living in Gloucestershire England. After dropping off the chart for a couple of months it immediately re-entered once he returned stateside in November 1987.	New Order
2	11	307	1987	Walking Down Your Street The Bangles scored with 8 hit singles on our chart in a little over 3 years from 1986 to 1989. This is my favourite of all of their hits. It was the 4TH single from their 2ND album "Different Light". It was the immediate follow-up to their biggest hit ever - "Walk Like An Egyptian". My 2ND favourite Bangles hit is "If She Knew What She Wants" - the immediate follow-up to their 1ST big hit - "Manic Monday".	The Bangles
10	9	234	1987	Weak In The Presence Of Beauty This slow pop-dance tune was released in between "Is This Love" and "Ordinary Girl" from the album "Raindancing". It hit # 6 on the U.K. chart.	Alison Moyet
13	3	85	1987	Why Can't I Be You ? This incredibly fast song was actually way too fast to even dance to. It was the first of four U.K. TOP 50 singles from their June 1987 album "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me". (The other three were "Catch", "Just Like Heaven", and "Hot Hot Hot !!!".)	The Cure
1	16	443	1987	(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party !) Michael 'Mike D' Diamond, Adam 'Adrock' Horovitz, and Adam 'MCA' Yauch are the legendary Beastie Boys out of N.Y. N.Y. 'Mike D' and 'MCA' are the founding members of the band that was formed back in 1979. 'Adrock' joined the band in 1981. Michael 'Mix Master Mike' Schwartz is their current DJ. This was their breakthrough debut smash all around the world that catapulted them into the mainstream. It spent a single week at # 1 on this chart back in March 1987.	Beastie Boys
4	12	258	1987 & 1989	You Sexy Thing You can always count on this DISCO SMASH being resurrected once a decade. It was originally released in late-1975, and it hit # 2 in the U.K. It was remixed and reissued in early-1987, and it rose to # 10 in the U.K. It got even higher on our chart (# 4). It was reissued yet again in late-1997 after being featured in the International box office smash "The Full Monty". The 3RD time around it hit # 6 in the U.K. Will we hear from it in 2007 ?	Hot Chocolate
--	--	--	1987	You Think You're A Man (But You're Only A Boy) Divine was Harris Glenn Milstead (1945-1988), and he (or she) was a movie star, a nightclub performer, and a singer created by film director John Waters. This is an early Stock, Aitken, & Waterman production (and direction), and it sure does sound like it too. It's got all of the traditional S.A.W. bells, whistles, and HI-NRG beats to it. It was actually one of their first single releases ever back in 1984. I'm fortunate to have an extended 8¼-minute version of it on one of my mix tapes.	Divine
3	15	465	1987 & 1991	You Win Again The Brothers Gibb enjoyed over 30 years of MASSIVE chart success here in the U.S. from 1967 to 1998 including 8 # 1 hits from 1975 to 1979. They were actually less successful in their native U.K. during those 30 years, but they still hit # 1 five times. Their biggest U.K. # 1 smash ever actually occurred in 1987 - long after their success here in the U.S. had waned. "You Win Again" ruled the U.K. pop chart for 4 weeks. It was the 2ND to last # 1 song in the U.K. before I moved away and returned stateside.	The Bee Gees